20. Government Mind Control
Many conspiracy theories might sound too strange to be real, but some of them proved to actually be true. A conspiracy is a plot to do something against the law, even if the law is not just. Throughout history and around the world, many conspiracies included planned assassination, overthrowing businesses, or tainting a person or groups’ image. Most of the conspiracies failed, and the conspirators being fined, jailed or even killed for their deeds. Are you interested in seeing which conspiracies are real?
From conspiracies like Watergate to the assassination that led to WWI, we have gathered 20 insane conspiracy theories that proved to be true conspiracies, marking our history.
Conspiracy: The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln was organized by four shooters to kill not only the President, but also the vice-president and the Secretary of State as a massive coup.
Truth: Only one shooter managed to pull off part of the plan, killing the President and the other two shooters wounded the Secretary of State William Seward, and the Vice President Johnson being spared by his killer.
Conspiracy: A handful of powerful business owners monopolized the market through giant trusts. Truth: A group of powerful business owners were able to intimidate, bribe and kill off small businesses to monopolize their interests, leading to the creation of trusts.
They were broken up later by Theodore Roosevelt, but many of the successor companies still thrive in the oil, mining, manufacturing, and food production market.
Conspiracy: Exiled Vladimir Lenin returns to Russia in 1917. Truth: The exiled communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin is allowed by the German authorities to go back to Russia to help them overthrow the Russian war effort.
In less than a year, Lenin helped take Russia out of the World War I.
Conspiracy: A secret society killed Franz Ferdinand, starting the First World War. Truth: The conspiracy theory was not just a theory. It indeed was a goal of a secret society that wanted to break the southern provinces of Austria-Hungary and create a united Slavic nation.
The first step was to assassinate Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian Archduke. One of the assassins was Serbian student Gavrilo Princip (right), starting the First World War.
Conspiracy: A US congressman and a committee of Kuwaiti citizens conspired to share misinformation about the Iraqi troops, stating that the Iraqi tortured the Kuwaiti people and even removed babies from incubators. Truth: None of this happened, although the false testimony of Nayirah, a young woman who used a fake identity and was actually the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United State, was the final straw.
The US was more inclined than ever to participate in the Gulf War after the testimony.
Conspiracy: General Motors streetcars were knockout in a tactic to phase out transportation through electric trolley car in favor of cars and trucks. Truth: Two transportation companies bought many electric trolley car and dismantled them so that they’d kill the competition.
Later, they merged in a trust and car producers, tire manufactures and oil companies financed them.
Conspiracy: The Nixon administration discredited the President’s opponents so that Nixon could be reelected. Truth: Stealing secret documents, tapping conversations and discrediting Nixon’s opponents, the administration tried to cover up this conspiracy.
When it all became known, major political figures were arrested and Nixon resigned.
Conspiracy: Major League Baseball was aware dozens of baseball players took steroids using fraudulent prescriptions from their clinicians, but looked the other way.
Truth: Government and fans pressured the league to take a new drug testing policy after discovering that many players took illegal substances and tried to hide the effects of the drugs they took.
Conspiracy: The Pentagon paid for patriotism to boost soldier recruiting. Truth: Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain revealed that the Pentagon used $9 million to make professional sports leagues to promote America.
The Department of Defense needed more soldiers, so all the American flag, reunions with returning soldiers, honoring veterans was to make people know that America “supports the troops.” The results after the propaganda did not improve recruiting, but it did make teams in the NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball a lot richer.
Conspiracy: Counterintelligence Program was an effort made by the Federal government to infiltrate, investigate and discredit/destroy political groups that were believed to be hostile. Truth: COINTELPRO targeted communist organizations but also the Civil Rights Movement, the Rainbow Coalition, women’s rights organizations and more.
The conspiracy was exposed in 1971 when someone stole proof from an FBI field office.
Conspiracy: The US sold weapons to Iran to save the seven hostages that were held in Lebanon. The money was used to help Nicaraguan militants.
Truth: It was a well-intended plan, but it violated many federal laws and the US embargo against Iran, ending with jail sentences.
Conspiracy: Conglomerated conspired to fix the prices of the additive lysine used in animal feed. Truth: An insider revealed the conspiracy and the FBI prosecuted the companies, which were fined with hundreds of millions of dollars.
You can see the entire story in the movie The Informant (2011).
Conspiracy: Black men with syphilis did not receive treatments, as CDC hid their decision under the guise of a medical experiment.
Truth: The racist conspiracy took decades to become public, but once it was brought to the light, the victims and their families receiver a $10 million settlement, lifetime medical care and free burials.
Conspiracy: Hitler was supposed to die after a bomb was planted in his headquarters. Truth: Many members of the German military and leadership wanted to kill Adolph Hitler by bombing his headquarters.
However, the bomb was moved away from Hitler by accident right before exploding. He executed almost 5,000 people for the conspiracy, although many of them had taken no part in it.
Conspiracy: The government poisoned alcohol so that people would stop drinking during Prohibition. Truth: Manufacturers that created industrial alcohol already added dangerous chemicals to the drinks years before Prohibition.
The government made manufacturers use stronger poisons to alcohol so that bootleggers would stop making moonshine. However, this did not stop bootleggers, and more than 10,000 Americans were killed by poisonous alcohol.
Conspiracy: It has been decades since tobacco companies have known that smoking is deadly. Research showed the link between smoking and cancer since the 1950s.
Truth: In the late 1990s, Philip Morris finally admitted that smoking causes cancer.
Conspiracy: Executives at GSK hid incriminating safety data that showed questionable efficacy of their drugs. Truth: They not only did that, but also illegally promoted some products to treat diseases off label, and paid doctors to promote the drugs.
Because of that, GSK was fined the largest fine ever given to a pharma company: $3 billion.
Conspiracy: Apple conspired with five publishing companies to make e-book prices skyrocket so that Amazon will go out of business. Truth: Apple agreed to pay over $450 million in a class-action lawsuit, admitting that they plotted against Amazon.
Nonetheless, Amazon controlled nearly two-thirds of the e-book market - they even sold e-books cheaper to get more customers.
Conspiracy: The Canada government tried developing a “gaydar” machine. Truth: In the 1960s, Canada hired a university professor who was going to develop a machine that would tell him if a person is homosexual. The machine studied a person’s pupil dilation as it rolled same-sex-erotic imagery.
If the pupil dilated, it meant that the person was homosexual. The machine was used to fire over 400 men from the Mounties, the military and civil service.